Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez, left. and Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, who served as special prosecutor in the investigation of accusations of sexual harassment against the veteran lawmaker. Associated Press photo

And so, because, in September, Mr. Donovan had been appointed special prosecutor to investigate the high-profile case, that means Mr. Lopez will face no criminal charges.

But Mr. Lopez, who had previously defied demands that he give up his
seat, released a terse, one-sentence statement Saturday: “I hereby resign the public
office of Member of the Assembly from the 53rd Assembly District, Kings
County, effective 9 a.m. Monday, May 20, 2013.”

It's unfortunate that Mr. Lopez's allegedly despicable behavior toward women who worked for him won't earn him any sterner censure — at least by the criminal justice system — but we'll defer to Mr. Donovan's significant legal expertise.

The district attorney, sensing perhaps that Mr. Lopez is beyond shame, reserved his harshest judgment for Assembly leaders and other state officials in how they handled this matter.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver authorized a secret payment of more than $103,000 in taxpayer money to buy off the victims by quietly settling their claims against the 71-year-old Brooklyn lawmaker. And Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli signed off on this clearly shady deal.

Mr. Donovan's report said, "My investigation revealed that during the mediation and negotiation of a settlement, the chief concern of those in the Assembly was mitigating the Assembly's damages. That goal outweighed any interest in investigating or disciplining Assembly Member Lopez or in preventing similar occurrences in the future."

Mr. Donovan, who was named special prosecutor after Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes recused himself because of his ties to Mr. Lopez, was restricted to investigating possible crimes committed by Mr. Lopez in Brooklyn.

But he said of all the officials involved in trying to make this scandal go away, "It must be emphasized that the manner in which these entities dealt with the allegations fell short of what the public has the right to expect."

The shameful deal brokered by Mr. Silver also included, at Mr. Lopez's insistence, a confidentiality agreement that prevents the alleged victims from talking publicly about the case.

The Speaker claimed the clause was intended to protect the young women, but Mr. Donovan said that it only encouraged Mr. Lopez "to continue the inappropriate conduct."

And he noted pointedly that neither Mr. Schneiderman not Mr. DiNapoli objected to this dubious agreement.

Meanwhile, the release of his report triggered the release of an investigation by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) which had held off its report at Mr. Donovan's request. It, too, documented Mr. Lopez's alleged harassment and mistreatment of female staff members.

Predictably, Mr. Silver's office issued a statement claiming the reports show that the investigation "found that all actions by the Assembly were lawful and there was no basis for an ethics complaint against the Speaker or his staff."

It's not surprising Mr. Silver would try to spin it this way, but the reports hardly constitute anything close to a complete exoneration of his handling of the matter.

The JCOPE investigation could be used as the basis of an Assembly move to expel Mr. Lopez. But given all that's happened to this point, what are the chances of that?

It's more likely the Assembly will stick to its story and the state Legislature will continue its tawdry business as usual. (Mr. Lopez is just one of a number of state lawmakers tarred by scandal in recent years. This includes an alarming number who have been convicted or indicted on charges of financial crimes.)

Meanwhile, Mr. Lopez, perhaps feeling he's worn out his welcome in Albany, aims to run for City Council to continue in his career in "public service." He'll probably get elected, given the way things work in this city.

As for Mr. Silver, taxpayer-funded hush money notwithstanding, there will be no consequences whatsoever. There never are for him.